St François-Xavier
|
Saint Francis Xavier, SJ | |
|---|---|
 A painting of Saint Francis Xavier, held in the Kobe City Museum
| |
| Apostle to the Far East | |
| Born |
7 April 1506 Javier, Kingdom of Navarre |
| Died |
3 December 1552 (aged 46) Portuguese Base at São João Island |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church, Lutheran Church, Anglican Communion |
| Beatified | 25 October 1619 by Pope Paul V |
| Canonized | 12 March 1622 by Pope Gregory XV |
| Feast | 3 December 1552 |
| Attributes | crucifix; preacher carrying a flaming heart; bell; globe; vessel; young bearded Jesuit in the company of Saint Ignatius Loyola; young bearded Jesuit with a torch, flame, cross and lily |
| Patronage | African missions; Agartala, India; Ahmedabad, India; Alexandria, Louisiana; Apostleship of Prayer; Australia; Bombay, India; Borneo; Cape Town, South Africa; China; Dinajpur, Bangladesh; East Indies; Fathers of the Precious Blood; foreign missions; Freising, Germany; Goa, India; Green Bay, Wisconsin; India; Indianapolis, Indiana; Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan; University of Saint Francis Xavier; Sucre, Bolivia; Joliet, Illinois; Kabankalan, Philippines; Nasugbu, Batangas, Philippines; Alegria, Cebu, Philippines; diocese of Malindi, Kenya; missionaries; Missioners of the Precious Blood; Navarre, Spain; navigators; New Zealand; parish missions; plague epidemics; Propagation of the Faith; Zagreb, Croatia; Indonesia; Malacca; Malaysia; Mongolia; Sri Lanka |
Francis Xavier, S.J. (/ˈzeɪviər, ˈzævi-/; born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta, in Latin Franciscus Xaverius; 7 April 1506 – 3 December 1552), was a Navarrese Basque Roman Catholic missionary, born in Javier (Xavier in Navarro-Aragonese or Xabier in Basque), Kingdom of Navarre (present day Spain), and a co-founder of the Society of Jesus. He was a companion of Saint Ignatius of Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits who took vows of poverty and chastity at Montmartre, Paris in 1534. He led an extensive mission into Asia, mainly in the Portuguese Empire of the time and was influential in evangelization work, most notably in India. The Goa Inquisition was proposed by St. Francis Xavier. He also was the first Christian missionary to venture into Japan, Borneo, the Maluku Islands, and other areas. In those areas, struggling to learn the local languages and in the face of opposition, he had less success than he had enjoyed in India. Xavier was about to extend his missionary preaching to China when he died on Shangchuan Island.
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